Guests of the Ayatollah
The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Bowden
-
By:
-
Mark Bowden
About this listen
The Iran hostage crisis was a watershed moment in American history. It was America's first showdown with Islamic fundamentalism, a confrontation at the forefront of American policy to this day. It was also a powerful dramatic story that captivated the American people, launched yellow-ribbon campaigns, made celebrities of the hostage's families, and crippled the reelection campaign of President Jimmy Carter.
Mark Bowden tells this sweeping story through the eyes of the hostages, their radical, naive captors, the soldiers sent on the impossible mission to free them, and the diplomats working to end the crisis. Taking listeners from the Oval Office to the hostages' cells, Guests of the Ayatollah is a remarkably detailed, brilliantly re-created, and suspenseful account of a crisis that gripped and ultimately changed the world.
Listen to an interview with Mark Bowden on Fresh Air.©2006 Mark Bowden (P)2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Audioworks is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio DivisionListeners also enjoyed...
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Killing Pablo
- The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Killing Pablo is the inside story of the brutal rise and violent fall of Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. Also from Bowden: the best selling Black Hawk Down.
-
-
Relevant Accessible History
- By Bob on 03-25-03
By: Mark Bowden
-
Hue 1968
- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.
-
-
I KNEW This Book Would Sting Me . . . .
- By Rum Runner on 07-28-17
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Finish
- The Killing of Osama bin Laden
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Mark Bowden, internationally best-selling and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and the preeminent chronicler of the actions of our military and special forces writing today, comes an intensely gripping account of the hunt for and elimination of Osama bin Laden. With unprecedented access to key sources and his great gift for storytelling, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.
-
-
Listen to No Easy Day...much better
- By JMM on 10-20-12
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Last Stone
- A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.
-
-
As Repetitive as a Metronome
- By Andrew on 06-27-19
By: Mark Bowden
-
Life Sentence
- The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented deep dive into inner-city gang life, Mark Bowden takes listeners inside a Baltimore gang, offers an in-depth portrait of its notorious leader, and chronicles the 2016 FBI investigation that landed eight gang members in prison.
-
-
Good book, but needs to be re-cast.
- By Carey Chiaia on 06-08-23
By: Mark Bowden
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Killing Pablo
- The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Killing Pablo is the inside story of the brutal rise and violent fall of Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. Also from Bowden: the best selling Black Hawk Down.
-
-
Relevant Accessible History
- By Bob on 03-25-03
By: Mark Bowden
-
Hue 1968
- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.
-
-
I KNEW This Book Would Sting Me . . . .
- By Rum Runner on 07-28-17
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Finish
- The Killing of Osama bin Laden
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Mark Bowden, internationally best-selling and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and the preeminent chronicler of the actions of our military and special forces writing today, comes an intensely gripping account of the hunt for and elimination of Osama bin Laden. With unprecedented access to key sources and his great gift for storytelling, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.
-
-
Listen to No Easy Day...much better
- By JMM on 10-20-12
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Last Stone
- A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.
-
-
As Repetitive as a Metronome
- By Andrew on 06-27-19
By: Mark Bowden
-
Life Sentence
- The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented deep dive into inner-city gang life, Mark Bowden takes listeners inside a Baltimore gang, offers an in-depth portrait of its notorious leader, and chronicles the 2016 FBI investigation that landed eight gang members in prison.
-
-
Good book, but needs to be re-cast.
- By Carey Chiaia on 06-08-23
By: Mark Bowden
-
Black Wave
- Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East
- By: Kim Ghattas
- Narrated by: Kim Ghattas, Nan McNamara
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With vivid story-telling, extensive historical research, and on-the-ground reporting, Ghattas dispels accepted truths about a region she calls home. She explores how Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, once allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region, became mortal enemies after 1979. She shows how they used and distorted religion in a competition that went well beyond geopolitics. Feeding intolerance, suppressing cultural expression, and encouraging sectarian violence from Egypt to Pakistan, the war for cultural supremacy led to many events.
-
-
Unveiling the darkness of the Middle East
- By Matty D on 02-18-20
By: Kim Ghattas
-
Ghost Wars
- The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan. With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.
-
-
An Exceptional Accomplishment
- By Joe on 11-08-13
By: Steve Coll
-
Argo
- How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
- By: Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders traveled to Tehran....
-
-
Better Than the Movie
- By Debra Garfinkle on 11-28-12
By: Antonio Mendez, and others
-
Charlie Wilson's War
- The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
- By: George Crile
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the agency's history.
-
-
The REAL Story of the Middle East and the CIA
- By Dale on 08-24-04
By: George Crile
-
Delta Force
- A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit
- By: Charlie A. Beckwith, Donald Knox
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wanted: Volunteers for Project Delta. Will guarantee you a medal. A body bag. Or both. With this call to arms, Charlie Beckwith revolutionized American armed combat. Beckwith's acclaimed memoir tells the story of Delta Force as only its maverick creator could tell it - from the bloody baptism of Vietnam to the top-secret training grounds of North Carolina to political battles in the upper levels of the Pentagon itself. This is the heart-pounding, first-person insider's view of the missions that made Delta Force legendary.
-
-
Good Military History
- By Drew on 02-01-15
By: Charlie A. Beckwith, and others
-
Mossad
- The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service
- By: Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishal
- Narrated by: Benjamin Isaac
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mossad, authors MichaelBar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal take us behind the closed curtain with riveting, eye-opening, boots-on-the-ground accounts of the most dangerous, most crucial missions in the agency's 60-year history.
-
-
maybe with a different reader.
- By Andrew on 04-30-16
By: Michael Bar-Zohar, and others
-
A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
-
-
A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
-
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
-
-
Held my interest for 57 hours and 13 minutes
- By Jonnie on 11-08-10
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
Striking Back
- The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response
- By: Aaron J. Klein
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1972. The Munich Olympics. Palestinian members of the Black September group murder 11 Israeli athletes. Nine hundred million people watch the crisis unfold on television, witnessing a tragedy that inaugurates the modern age of terror.
-
-
Very, very good book. When researched.
- By Roadrunner At Large on 01-26-06
By: Aaron J. Klein
-
By All Means Available
- Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy
- By: Michael G. Vickers
- Narrated by: Michael G. Vickers
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War. In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career.
-
-
Great listen, interesting information
- By Amazon Customer on 08-02-23
-
Manhunt
- The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - from 9-11 to Abbottabad
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the New York Times best-selling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of the decade-long manhunt for the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multidimensional picture of the hunt for bin Laden over the past decade, including the operation that killed him.
-
-
DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!
- By Betty on 05-04-12
By: Peter L. Bergen
Critic reviews
"Bowden keeps tension high." (Booklist)
Related to this topic
-
A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
-
-
A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
-
Operation Thunderbolt
- Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda - ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality.
-
-
A story of true courage and political resolve
- By Gabe Schwartz on 01-28-16
By: Saul David
-
Argo
- How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
- By: Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders traveled to Tehran....
-
-
Better Than the Movie
- By Debra Garfinkle on 11-28-12
By: Antonio Mendez, and others
-
Striking Back
- The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response
- By: Aaron J. Klein
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1972. The Munich Olympics. Palestinian members of the Black September group murder 11 Israeli athletes. Nine hundred million people watch the crisis unfold on television, witnessing a tragedy that inaugurates the modern age of terror.
-
-
Very, very good book. When researched.
- By Roadrunner At Large on 01-26-06
By: Aaron J. Klein
-
The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
-
-
A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
-
The Last Refuge
- Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia
- By: Gregory Johnsen
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia. The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last 30 years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies.
-
-
bin laden.
- By Rhea on 07-15-13
By: Gregory Johnsen
-
A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
-
-
A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
-
Operation Thunderbolt
- Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda - ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality.
-
-
A story of true courage and political resolve
- By Gabe Schwartz on 01-28-16
By: Saul David
-
Argo
- How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
- By: Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders traveled to Tehran....
-
-
Better Than the Movie
- By Debra Garfinkle on 11-28-12
By: Antonio Mendez, and others
-
Striking Back
- The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response
- By: Aaron J. Klein
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1972. The Munich Olympics. Palestinian members of the Black September group murder 11 Israeli athletes. Nine hundred million people watch the crisis unfold on television, witnessing a tragedy that inaugurates the modern age of terror.
-
-
Very, very good book. When researched.
- By Roadrunner At Large on 01-26-06
By: Aaron J. Klein
-
The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
-
-
A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
-
The Last Refuge
- Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia
- By: Gregory Johnsen
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia. The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last 30 years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies.
-
-
bin laden.
- By Rhea on 07-15-13
By: Gregory Johnsen
-
Defiant
- The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned
- By: Alvin Townley
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of the indomitable American POWs who endured "Alcatraz," the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked up its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home. As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a U.S. Senator, and a third still serves in Congress.
-
-
Wow! All I can say is Wow!
- By Rick on 02-22-14
By: Alvin Townley
-
Charlie Wilson's War
- The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
- By: George Crile
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the agency's history.
-
-
The REAL Story of the Middle East and the CIA
- By Dale on 08-24-04
By: George Crile
-
The Tunnels
- Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill
- By: Greg Mitchell
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A thrilling Cold War narrative of superpower showdowns, media suppression, and two escape tunnels beneath the Berlin Wall.
-
-
captivating
- By maria on 11-28-16
By: Greg Mitchell
-
The Secretary
- A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power
- By: Kim Ghattas
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 2008, Hillary Clinton agreed to work for her former rival. As President Barack Obama's secretary of state, she set out to repair America's image around the world - and her own. For the following four years, BBC foreign correspondent Kim Ghattas had unparalleled access to Clinton and her entourage, and she weaves a fast-paced, gripping account of life on the road with Clinton in The Secretary.
-
-
Never got to the heart...
- By Mel on 04-17-13
By: Kim Ghattas
-
Candy Bombers
- By: Andrei Cherny
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed author Andrei Cherny tells the gripping saga of a rag-tag band of Americans - with limited resources and little hope for success - keeping West Berliners alive in the face of Soviet tyranny, winning the hearts and minds of former enemies, and giving the world a shining example of fundamental goodness.
-
-
Wonderful Story, Well-Read
- By Alex on 10-07-09
By: Andrei Cherny
-
The Unraveling
- High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq
- By: Emma Sky
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Emma Sky, an intrepid young British woman, volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, she had little idea what she was letting herself in for: a tour that would last over a decade, longer than that of any senior military or political official. As the only adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk and the closest confidante to US General Odierno, Sky was valued for her controversial voice and outsider's point of view.
-
-
Inspiring memoir; irritating narration
- By Amazon Customer on 09-17-16
By: Emma Sky
-
Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’
- By: Maziar Bahari, Aimee Molloy
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancée, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran’s most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater.
-
-
Book that would've shined but for the narration
- By loix on 06-24-11
By: Maziar Bahari, and others
-
A Brotherhood of Spies
- The U-2 and the CIA's Secret War
- By: Monte Reel
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union just weeks before a peace summit between the two nations. The CIA concocted a cover story for President Eisenhower to deliver, assuring him that no one could have survived a fall from that altitude. But against all odds, pilot Francis Gary Powers emerged from the wreckage and was seized by the KGB. Award-winning journalist Monte Reel reveals how the U-2 spy program, principally devised by four men working in secret, upended the Cold War and carved a new mission for the CIA.
-
-
Lessons Learned
- By Jim on 12-13-18
By: Monte Reel
-
Son of Hamas
- A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices
- By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Ron Brackin - contributor
- Narrated by: Mosab Hassan Yousef
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status...and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
-
-
Very insightful look at the underbelly of Hamas.
- By C,L, Richey on 05-05-14
By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, and others
-
The Last Palace
- Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House
- By: Norman Eisen
- Narrated by: Jeff Goldblum
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Norman Eisen moved into the US ambassador’s residence in Prague, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture in his new home. These symbols of Nazi Germany were remnants of the residence’s forgotten history, and evidence that we never live far from the past. From that discovery unspooled the twisting, captivating tale of four of the remarkable people who had called this palace home. Their story is Europe’s....
-
-
Great book despite goldblum’s narration
- By Fernando Ferrante on 01-19-19
By: Norman Eisen
-
Agent 110
- An American Spymaster and the German Resistance in WWII
- By: Scott Miller
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the secret and suspenseful account of how OSS spymaster Allen Dulles led a network of Germans conspiring to assassinate Hitler and negotiate surrender to bring about the end of World War II before the Soviet's advance. Agent 110 is Allen Dulles, a newly minted spy from an eminent family. Dulles met with and facilitated the plots of Germans who were trying to destroy the country's leadership.
By: Scott Miller
-
The Good Spy
- The Life and Death of Robert Ames
- By: Kai Bird
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history - a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East - CIA operative Robert Ames.
-
-
Biased but interesting
- By Peggy on 05-09-18
By: Kai Bird
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Hue 1968
- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.
-
-
I KNEW This Book Would Sting Me . . . .
- By Rum Runner on 07-28-17
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Last Stone
- A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.
-
-
As Repetitive as a Metronome
- By Andrew on 06-27-19
By: Mark Bowden
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Finish
- The Killing of Osama bin Laden
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Mark Bowden, internationally best-selling and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and the preeminent chronicler of the actions of our military and special forces writing today, comes an intensely gripping account of the hunt for and elimination of Osama bin Laden. With unprecedented access to key sources and his great gift for storytelling, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.
-
-
Listen to No Easy Day...much better
- By JMM on 10-20-12
By: Mark Bowden
-
Life Sentence
- The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented deep dive into inner-city gang life, Mark Bowden takes listeners inside a Baltimore gang, offers an in-depth portrait of its notorious leader, and chronicles the 2016 FBI investigation that landed eight gang members in prison.
-
-
Good book, but needs to be re-cast.
- By Carey Chiaia on 06-08-23
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Steal
- The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It
- By: Mark Bowden, Matthew Teague
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Steal is an engaging, in-depth report on what happened during those crucial nine weeks and a portrait of the dedicated individuals who did their duty and stood firm against the unprecedented, sustained attack on our election system and ensured that every legal vote was counted and that the will of the people prevailed.
-
-
Fascinating local insights
- By CharlieSeymourJr on 01-13-22
By: Mark Bowden, and others
-
Hue 1968
- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.
-
-
I KNEW This Book Would Sting Me . . . .
- By Rum Runner on 07-28-17
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Last Stone
- A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.
-
-
As Repetitive as a Metronome
- By Andrew on 06-27-19
By: Mark Bowden
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Finish
- The Killing of Osama bin Laden
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Mark Bowden, internationally best-selling and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and the preeminent chronicler of the actions of our military and special forces writing today, comes an intensely gripping account of the hunt for and elimination of Osama bin Laden. With unprecedented access to key sources and his great gift for storytelling, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.
-
-
Listen to No Easy Day...much better
- By JMM on 10-20-12
By: Mark Bowden
-
Life Sentence
- The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented deep dive into inner-city gang life, Mark Bowden takes listeners inside a Baltimore gang, offers an in-depth portrait of its notorious leader, and chronicles the 2016 FBI investigation that landed eight gang members in prison.
-
-
Good book, but needs to be re-cast.
- By Carey Chiaia on 06-08-23
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Steal
- The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It
- By: Mark Bowden, Matthew Teague
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Steal is an engaging, in-depth report on what happened during those crucial nine weeks and a portrait of the dedicated individuals who did their duty and stood firm against the unprecedented, sustained attack on our election system and ensured that every legal vote was counted and that the will of the people prevailed.
-
-
Fascinating local insights
- By CharlieSeymourJr on 01-13-22
By: Mark Bowden, and others
-
The Fall of Heaven
- The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran
- By: Andrew Scott Cooper
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this remarkably human portrait of one of the 20th century's most complicated personalities, author Andrew Scott Cooper traces Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's life from childhood through his ascension to the throne in 1941. He highlights the turbulence of the postwar era, during which the shah survived assassination attempts and coup plots to build a modern, pro-Western state and launch Iran onto the world stage as one of the world's top five powers.
-
-
Excellent account of a pivotal and sad time
- By Guerin Shea on 09-05-16
-
Doctor Dealer
- The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Dealer is the story of Larry Lavin, a bright, charismatic young man who rose from his working-class upbringing to win a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, earn Ivy League college and dental degrees, and buy his family a house in one of Philadelphia's most exclusive suburbs. But behind the facade of his success was a dark secret - at every step of the way he was building the foundation for a cocaine empire that would grow to generate over $60 million in annual sales.
-
-
Awesome writing - horrible narrating
- By farmhouselady on 08-11-15
By: Mark Bowden
-
Argo
- How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
- By: Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders traveled to Tehran....
-
-
Better Than the Movie
- By Debra Garfinkle on 11-28-12
By: Antonio Mendez, and others
-
Killing Pablo
- The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Killing Pablo is the inside story of the brutal rise and violent fall of Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. Also from Bowden: the best selling Black Hawk Down.
-
-
Relevant Accessible History
- By Bob on 03-25-03
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Looming Tower
- Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Lawrence Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States.
-
-
Supremely thorough and interesting
- By Josh on 10-05-17
By: Lawrence Wright
-
The Siege
- A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the American hostage crisis in Iran boiled into its seventh month in the spring of 1980, six heavily armed gunman barged into the Iranian embassy in London, taking twenty-six hostages. What followed over the next six days was an increasingly tense standoff, one that threatened at any moment to spill into a bloodbath.
-
-
Interesting, but a bit of a slog
- By V. Temple on 11-16-24
By: Ben Macintyre
What listeners say about Guests of the Ayatollah
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeff Dwiggins
- 03-12-24
Interesting details not previously understood.
Good background on what really went on. Clearly the hostages were mentally and physically abused.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Eunice
- 06-02-09
Worth a listen, with a few reservations
Overall, this was a fascinating listen. The author narrated his own book, and did a good job. The story line is easy to follow and well written.
My reservations about this book are as follows: Bowden is a strong fan of Jimmy Carter and that comes through often throughout the book. If you are also a Carter fan, you will enjoy that. His descriptions of Carter and his handling of thie hostage situation are far and away more favorable than I've seen anywhere else, other than in Carter's own writings. These probably served as an important source in the writing of Bowden's book.
The final chapter, which summarizes and editorializes, was the weak link. It consisted in a fair amount of great praise for Carter and absolute disdain for Reagan. When Bowden mentioned Reagan, you could even hear a disgusted change in his voice. He also got in a jab at George W. Bush, by stating that he had kept the former hostages from suing Iran for damages. I'm not a big Bush fan, but am rather tired of EVERYTHING being "his fault". The former hostages have, since their captivity, lived through the administrations of Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton before reaching the "W" years. There was no mention of their legal pursuits during any of these administrations. That made the "W" jab seem like a pure piece of vindictive political correctness, and was annoying. Enough is enough on that score.
Overall, the book was a good listen, but I would not rely on it as a single source for political background of the day. "Siege of Mecca" is an excellent book from Audible which is about the takeover of Mecca's Grand Mosque by Muslim extremists in the late 70's. It is written by Yaroslav Trofimov, who deals briefly with the Carter administration and its handling of foreign policy, including the Iran hostage situation. I heartily recommend it as a companion to this book, or as a stand-alone work. It is excellent in every respect.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- zachery
- 12-05-07
well told history
Boden is a talent to be recognized...(check out Killing Pablo) This story spins like an historic rodent on an exercise wheel at a Halloween Party---- a little bit squeaky with more rhythmic breathing than would be allowed in a PG13 feature. That is to say a little long winded and redundant with a few to many characters---- but it does continually develop-- and if you can appreciate that it is not fiction, but a story of modern history, the tale of real life experiences: it is worth the time it takes to tell it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Daniel
- 12-23-10
Great Read
I was only 13 when the Embassy was taken over, and I well remember the images of our diplomats being praded in front of the cameras. While I am sure there is alot more of the story out there, I learned alot about the takeover and the runup to it from this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J.Fritts
- 04-17-18
Fun Read! Not Really, but I Learned a Lot.
Interesting story of which I only remember Walter Kronkite commenting daily on the number of days the hostages were being held in Iran. I thought the attempted rescue was interesting as I didn't know anything about it and I liked that the author took me into the daily lives of the hostages and showed me big things and small that made me turn the page so to speak to find out what happens even though it was well documented. I'd definitely recommend it if you are like me, old enough to remember something happened but young enough not to know the details. The details made a great story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Renan
- 04-16-07
At times thrilling
This book is fascinating- about an episode that would be a minor historical event except that our troubles with Iran are still on-going (and Iran keeps taking hostages). The author reads the book himself and at times the story reads like a thrilling spy novel in an exotic place (even though many readers will know generally what happened)... But be forewarned, any story about the mistreatment of a group of hostages for more than a year can be sad and depressing. I enjoyed the many insights into each of the hostages' personalities and their unique ways of coping with their captivity, but there were mornings when after listening for an hour during my commute that I was left sad and angry. It takes a good book to affect me this way, and this is a good book about a history we all should know as we veer towards yet another confrontation with the mullahs of Iran
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 05-06-18
Excellent read.
This book is thorough and paints a clear picture of the ordeal the American hostages went through in Iran. The epilogue clearly explains why I believe there is hope for the region, if only we can get past our governments and work together person to person.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Collins
- 02-06-23
A wonderfully detailed account!
I really enjoyed this book. I got the hardcover version in high school, but wanted to listen to it as I drove. Mark does a great job of seamlessly weaving together the accounts of the hostages. His narration is a perfect addition to an already great book. There was talks of NatGeo/Fox 21 Television writing a documentary off this book. I hope that’s still the case.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Michael
- 02-01-10
Very revealing!
I was very pleased with this book. I was too young to remember the headlines when this happened but had always wanted to learn more, and Bowden's thorough account is very well done. There's so much to this story. It conveys the fear of the hostages, the inexperience of most of the hostage takers, the desperation of the American government to resolve it, and the amusing antics of the hostages as time wore on. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in a thorough account of the Iran hostage crisis.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chuck Smiley
- 02-02-20
Learned (and remembered) a lot
I was just graduated from college in November 1979 and recall the daily count of “days of captivity” on the nightly news. Didn’t understand, nor care about, the back story on the Shah...only that our country had been humiliated. Reading this book 40 years later provides a well-rounded and thoughtful perspective on the ordeal. And listening to the author read his own story was a plus.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!